LinkedIn Survey PM Tools Report 2016

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LinkedIn PM Community Survey Report 2016:

PROJECT MANAGEMENTTOOLS IN PRACTICE

January 2016 | PM.com Research Team


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.02 FOREWORD

We know firsthand that project leaders and managers

rely heavily on the tools they use every day, and also

that we are experiencing a radical shift in the nature

of project-based work. Are we also experiencing

radical shifts in the tools we use?

As collaborative ways of working bring new tools into

the workplace, we wanted to find out more about

how these tools are being used.

This research project attempts to examine real-world

application of online project tools across a wide range

of industries and roles. Over 500 respondents offered

their input.

Thank you for taking the time to read the results. We

look forward to hearing your thoughts.

At ProjectManager.com, we develop tools and resources to help teams deliver

better projects through our products, content and our community.

SPECIAL THANKS

This survey is a result of

our valued community

of project professionals,

particularly our LinkedInCommunity which recently

surpassed the 300,000

member mark. Thanks to

all who participated in this

survey and those who

contribute everyday.

Special thanks, as well, to

our moderator Matthew

Weaver, PMP, CSM, ITIL.

Jason Westland

Founder & CEO

ProjectManager.com


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.03 CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

KEY TERMS

KEY FINDINGS

KEY FINDING 1:

Dissatisfaction with current tool.

KEY FINDING 2:

Lack of integration causes

frustration.

KEY FINDING 3:

Collaboration features are going

unused.

KEY FINDING 4:

The majority want simpler tools!

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PARTICIPANT FINDINGS

PM TOOLS IN PRACTICE FINDINGS

CURRENT TOOL USE

CORE FEATURES USED

MOBILE USE

CONCLUSION

ABOUT THE SURVEY

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

ABOUT THE LINKEDIN PM

COMMUNITY

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.04 EXECUTIVESUMMARYProject management tools are evolving at a rapid pace as the nature

of work itself has become more collaborative and distributed.

We know that with the rise in collaboration tools and apps, the way we use traditional

project management software is changing, too.

On our blog, we’ve written about the changing nature of productivity tools in the

workplace, and how teams are using new social tools like Slack that promote

transparent communication through its use. When the tools themselves can shift the

culture of an organization, we can expect to see new uses of traditional tools, and

even integrations that create hybridized tools and platforms.

In this survey, we wanted to learn the following:

.07What way is project

management softwarebeing used today?

.08How many tools areproject teams using

regularly?

.09What are their biggestfrustrations with their

current tools?

.10What features of their

current tools do projectteams use most?

In short, we set out to study changing ways project management tools and

software are used in practice.


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.05 KEY TERMS

Project management software is any

kind of software, whether server-based

installation, desktop download or online

software-as-a-service (SaaS), which can

include a mobile app, used for the purposeof managing the tasks produced by teams

in the service of a project.

Apps are just another word to describe

software applications (or programs) and

can mean both desktop and mobile

applications.

Integrations means two programs that

can be connected together, either through

an API or as a plugin, so that data is

exchanged between them.

Project management terms, defined.

This survey uses the following definitions.

Agile here refers to the project

management methodology, commonly

used in IT project development.

Scrum is a process of managing projectphases in sprints, or short bursts of

activity, also commonly used by Agile

software development teams.

Waterfall is a traditional project

management methodology frequently

used in large projects according to

sequential phases in the project lifecycle.

KanBan is a method of delivering tasks

using a visual medium of “boards,”

whether actual in software, that enable

tracking and prioritization of tasks.


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.06 KEY SURVEYFINDINGSWe have highlighted four key findings from the survey...

KEY FINDING 1:Nearly half of all surveyrespondents are unhappywith their current projectmanagement tools.

KEY FINDING 3:Collaboration features aremuch more unused thanmost project managerstypically expect.

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KEY FINDING 2: Lack of integration is amajor pain point for manyproject managers andsoftware users.

KEY FINDING 4:The majority want simplertools!

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.07 MOST ARENOT HAPPY

When we analyzed our key survey findings,

we found a clear theme: increasing

dissatisfaction with current tools, combined

with increased adoption of multiple types of

productivity tools is inevitably going to leadto changes in tool practice.

Much has been written elsewhere about all-

in-one complex systems (Microsoft Project)

versus leaner tools with single-

purpose functionality (Trello). While the vast

majority of respondents used a combination

of tools, predominantly Excel plus another

core tool, when Excel and other MS products

were removed from the equation, it became

clear that multiple tools like Trello and Jira

were used to complement traditional project

management tools.

Change in tools is inevitable, as unhappiness with current project management

software aligns with teams needing to integrate with other productivity tools.

Over 23% of all respondents, in

fact, reported using 3 or more

project tools regularly, and 72%

use more than one tool.

While Excel is clearly adominant tool for use in

project management (a

whopping 75%), the increase

in new-to-market productivity

tools like Trello, which came to

wider adoption in the market

only in 2012, as well as the

rise of all-in-one online project

management software

applications such asProjectManager.com (2008),

Wrike (2006), and

Smartsheet (2006), have

begun to challenge Microsoft

Project’s dominance in the

market, at least in terms of

customer satisfaction.

http://technologyadvice.com/project-management/smart-advisor/http://technologyadvice.com/project-management/smart-advisor/


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.08 LACK OFINTEGRATION

We dug deeper and asked what their biggest

frustrations were with their current tools and by

a far margin (again 48%) the respondents stated a

lack of integration with other tools.

A near second was that their tool “takes too

much time to do what I need to do”. While that

can mean many things, the subsequent options

revealed more: 25% complained that their tool

wasn’t being used by their teams, 14% felt the

tool was “too complicated,” 12% felt it required

too much training and only a small fraction felttheir tool was too simple (5%).

A whopping 48% of respondents are not only unhappy with their current tool,

they say that lack of integration is the leading cause of frustration.

With the vast majority of

participants regularly using

Excel (75%) and most also using

an MS Project product, either

server install (39%) or MSProj-

ect Online (23%), it’s clear thereis frustration with those tools

and their inability to integrate

with other tools in use across

the organization.


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.09

Given the rise in the collaboration

economy and the inundation of

collaboration tools in the marketplace,

from social apps to chat tools to

document-collaboration platforms, it’sstriking that collaboration features are

being under-utilized in project

management software.

And given the sheer dominance of mo-

bile use in the past several years, it is

also remarkable that 83.5% of

participants are not using their soft-

ware tool’s mobile app.

When looking at what features are

used most—Task Management (68%),

Gantt Chart (67%), Reporting (58%),

Only 26% of respondents used the collaboration features of their

software tool, and only 13% use a mobile app.

Risks Issues & Changes (44%),

Dashboards (44%), Timesheets (40%)

and Expense Management (20%)—a

clear pattern of traditional project

management processes emerge in thetool use.

Again, given the majority of users in

the study were MS Excel & MS

Project users, we can infer that their

use of collaboration features were

limited overall.

However, there are too many possible

avenues to explore here to conclude

why collaboration features overall are

being underutilized. Certainly further

study in this area is warranted.

COLLABORATIVE FEATURESARE NOT BEING USED


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.10

In order to fully understand the

way tools are used, it is important

to understand who participated in

the survey.

While the LinkedIn Group has over

300,000 project professionals, the vast

majority who answered the survey

were in Internet Technology (44%) in a

clear project management role (67%).

What is interesting is the high numbers

of participants reporting the need for

simpler tools.

Again, the dominant tools in use were

Microsoft products: Excel and MS

Project suite.

The vast majority of respondents want tools that are simpler for their teams.

The primary frustration of lack of

integration was quickly followed by a

series of responses indicating

frustration with the tool’s complexity:

• 33% said their tool takes too much

time to use.

• 26% said their team won’t use it.

• 13% said their tool was too

complicated.

• 12% said the tool required too much

training.

Clearly, the need to extend the tools

easily to their teams is important for

the project managers who answered

the survey.

PEOPLE WANTSIMPLER TOOLS


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Role & Industry Breakdown:

SURVEY PARTICIPANTFINDINGS



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.13 INDUSTRYBREAKDOWNThe majority of survey participants from the LinkedIn PM

Community were in the IT and Technology sector.

5% Healthcare

5% Other

5% Energy

5% Government

3% Education

44%IT/Technology

8%Finance

6% Manufacturing

8%Finance

7%Consulting

6% Construction

2% each Retail Pharmaceutical/Medical Transportation


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.14 METHODSMost PMs in our study used a hybrid approach to

project management methodologies.

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

Waterfall

52%Agile

50%Scrum

26%Lean

17%PRINCE2

17%KanBan

12%Unknown

11%

Methodologies Used


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Current Tool Use & Pain Points:

TOOLS IN USE FINDINGS



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.16 CURRENTPM TOOL44% of the managers we surveyed are not happy with their current software.

44%NO

56%YES

Are you happy

with your current

PM software?


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.17 CURRENTPM TOOL75% of all PMs use Excel in addition to other tools. Nearly 40-60% use

MS Project Server and/or MS Project Online.

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

E x c e l

M S P r o j e c t S e r v e r

M S P r o j e c t O n l i n e

T r e l l o

P r o j e c t M a n a g e r . c o m

B a s e C a m p

T e a m G a n t t

J i r a

S h a r e P o i n t

A s a n a

W o r k F r o n t

C l a r i t y

P r i m a v e r a

N o n e

C a l r i z e n

R a l l y

W r i k e

D a p t i v

P l a n v i e w


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.18 CURRENTPM TOOLTrello & ProjectManager.com are the most commonly

used PM tools outside of Microsoft products.

7%

6%

5%

4%

3%

2%

1%

0%

T r e l l o

P r o j e c t M a n a g e r . c o m

B a s e C a m p

T e a m G a n t t

J i r a

S h a r e P o i n t

A s a n a

W o r k F r o n t

C l a r i t y

P r i m a v e r a

N o n e

C a l r i z e n

R a l l y

W r i k e

D a p t i v

P l a n v i e w


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.19 CURRENTPM TOOL95% of all PMs use more than one project management

tool to run their projects.

5%No Tools

72%1-2 Tools

23%3+ Tools

Number of

tools

in use?


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.20 CURRENTPM TOOLOnly 12% of all PMs use Excel exclusively to run their projects.

88%More Tools

12%Only Excel

Number of

users that

only useExcel


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.22 CURRENTPM TOOLNearly half of the managers we surveyed are frustrated that their

current tool doesn’t integrate with other apps.

Lack of Integration with other tools

It takes too much time to do what I need

My team won’t use it

It’s too complicated

Requires too much training

It’s too simple

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

What are your biggest frustrations withyour current PM tool?


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.23 CORE FEATURES USEDTask Management & Gantt Charts were the most used tools,

followed closely by Reporting.

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

T a s k M a n a g e m e n t

G a n t t C h a r t s

R e p o r t i n g

R i s k s ,

I s s u e s & C h a n g e s

D a s h b o a r d s

T i m e s h e e t s

C o l l a b o r a t i o n

E x p e n s e M a n a g e m e n t


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.24 CORE FEATURES USEDMost PMs regularly create reports on a weekly basis.

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

D a i l y

W e e k l y

B i - W e e k l y

M o n t h l y

Q u a r t e r l y

N e v e r


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.25 MOBILEOnly 13% of PMs use their online project tool’s mobile app.

3%N/A

84%NO

13%YES

Mobile

App use?


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Future Tool Use is Changing:

CONCLUSION



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.27

While collaboration tools and apps are

changing the way we do work, tradi-

tional project management software

needs are changing, too, but not in the

way we might assume, based on

current use of collaboration features.

However, the lack of integration

capabilities by tools like MS Project with

new collaboration platforms like Slack

are one reason, perhaps, why the col-

laboration features are going unused.

Project managers are findingincreasing satisfaction with emerging

tools (72% are happy with

ProjectManager.com versus 58% with

Project Online and only 44% with

Project Desktop) that can satisfy

Dissatisfaction with MS Project and its lack of integration, collaboration and

adoption by others in the organization, is causing people to seek better, simpler tools.

integration needs, inspire collaboration

and don’t require training to rollout to

their teams.

As one respondent wrote:

“[My] biggest frustration is that

different areas use different tools

which makes it difficult to have clear

visibility across the organization to

workload, resources.”

The clear rise in alternatives to MS

Project and Excel is speaking to theneed to support ease-of-integrations

with tools across the organization,

and enable more flexible, collaborative

ways of working for teams.

CONCLUSION


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Methods and Parting Thoughts:

ABOUT THE SURVEY



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SURVEY DETAILS

ProjectManager.com invited members

of the PM Community on LinkedIn to

participate in the survey. The survey

was created using a Google Form that

opened on July 27, 2015 and officially

closed August 24, 2015. The survey

received a total of 517 participants.

PROJECT MANAGER RESEARCH

ProjectManager.com Research offers

insights and access to leading data on

project management and productivity,

tools and processes. Whether you’renew to leading projects, a PM Pro or

a CEO, ProjectManager.com Research

addresses your need for relevant in-

sights into the how we can work better

to get more done. Visit us at www.

projectmanager.com/resources.

A total of 517 respondents contributed their responses to 10questions about applications of project management tools.

Some participants chose to add some other thoughts.

PARTING THOUGHTS

“I have worked for several companies, and none ofthem have ever fully engaged everyone in the use ofa pm tool, so it is frustrating to do everything twice,once for those who want the tool and once for thosewho do not.”

“Really need a simplified version of PM tools, collaboration site, and metrics all together.”

“I tried a lot of products but I can’t find something all- in-one. I built convenient tools for me via ECM (EIM)systems but it’s not perfect. And for planning I amforced to use MS Project (for example), for analytics- Qlik or another products, for project managementAxapta etc. It’s not a big problem but those manipu- lations takes a lot of time.”

“Very difficult to find one tool for effective project,program, and portfolio management.”

“Integration issues with other tools the companyuses causes frustrations when the managementteam needs project status reports. Our projects arekept in a non-traditional system that has tobe exported then imported to another tool to be usedas a dashboard. A dashboard works but some management members prefer excel pivotsversus true reporting tools.”

DETAILS, RESEARCH& PARTING THOUGHTS

https://www.linkedin.com/groups/Project-Manager-Community-Best-Group-35313http://www.projectmanager.com/free-resourceshttp://www.projectmanager.com/free-resourceshttp://www.projectmanager.com/free-resourceshttp://www.projectmanager.com/free-resourceshttps://www.linkedin.com/groups/Project-Manager-Community-Best-Group-35313


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.31With over 300,000 members and growing, the PM Community

is one of the largest professional groups on LinkedIn.

ABOUT THEPM COMMUNITY GROUP

Founded in 2007, the PM Community is owned

and managed by ProjectManager.com.

We post new articles and videos to the group

weekly, providing relevant training, news,

research and resources on project management,

productivity, leadership and more.

What’s really amazing, is the community activity.

There are vibrant (sometimes heated)

discussions on project management best practices

for PM Pros, CEOs and students alike. The forum is

a source of mentoring support and peer-network-ing for professionals around the globe.

Some recent discussions in thecommunity include:

What Really MotivatesPeople? Has your PMP certificationmattered?

Do you use Slack regularly andif so, how?

When to Push Back withStakeholders?

Do You Ever Extend a SprintDuration?

That’s just a sampling of thehundreds of topics in thechannel, from Agile practices tocertification pros and cons anddeep dives into earned valueanalysis. To join the group, clickthe link to the left!

JOINUS ON

https://www.linkedin.com/grp/home?gid=35313https://www.linkedin.com/grp/home?gid=35313https://www.linkedin.com/grp/home?gid=35313


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ProjectManager.com is a simple yet powerful online project management tool that

enables you and your team to plan, track, monitor and report on your projects in

real-time.

ProjectManager.com is also home to a community of over one million project pro-

fessionals globally helping each other to succeed.

This publication has been prepared for general guidance on matters of interest

only, and does not constitute professional advice. You should not act upon the

information contained in this publication without obtaining specific professional

advice. No representation or warranty (express or implied) is given as to the

accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this publication, and, to

the extent permitted by law, Project Managerdoes not accept or assume any liability,

responsibility or duty of care for any

consequences of you or anyone

else acting, or refraining to act,

in reliance on the information

contained in this publication

or for any decision based on

its use.

LinkedIn Survey PM Tools Report 2016

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